Food Insecurity

United Nations agencies warn that hunger in conflict-ridden Sudan has reached record levels, with more than 20.3 million people across the country, over 42 percent of the population, facing acute hunger, including 6.3 million who are “one step away from famine.” According to the latest IPC food assessment in Sudan, the number of people projected to be food insecure between July and September has nearly doubled from the last analysis, conducted in May 2022.

The number of internally displaced people (IDPs) around the world reached 71.1 million across 110 countries and territories at the end of 2022, a sharp increase of 20 percent from the previous year, according to a new report released Thursday. The Global Report on Internal Displacement 2023 (GRID 2023) by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) says rapidly escalating conflict and violence in countries such as Ukraine and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and climate related disasters such as flooding in Pakistan forced millions of people to flee in the past year.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Tuesday that growing instability across northern Nigeria, including a surge in attacks, is driving hunger to unprecedented levels. Despite soaring needs, the WFP will run out of resources for emergency food and nutrition assistance in December, leaving millions without lifesaving support.

Officials in Chad say urgent international help is needed to save the lives of more than 2 million of the most vulnerable people caught in a severe humanitarian crisis caused by conflict and climate shocks. The Sahel country is one of the poorest nations in the world, and food is particularly scarce now as hunger peaks in the June-August lean season between harvests.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that Madagascar is experiencing a worsening humanitarian crisis, particularly in the Grand Sud and Grand Sud-Est regions, which have endured a series of droughts, cyclones, and other disasters this year and last.  The lingering impact of the recent El Niño drought and cyclone season, combined with a malaria outbreak and strained health systems, has left many communities without the means to recover.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warns that, without urgent resources and action, the most vulnerable people in the Sahel region are headed for another dire year. A staggering 53 million people in the region are expected to experience crisis-level hunger, or worse, during the lean season from June to August 2026. Over 13 million children are also expected to suffer from malnutrition.

Speaking at the United Nations Security Council on Monday, Joyce Msuya, the deputy head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), delivered a blunt warning: armed conflict is driving the world’s most severe hunger crises, and without decisive political action, famine conditions will worsen in several regions. Msuya stressed that today's hunger is overwhelmingly human-made.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the UN World Food Programme (WFP), and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned on Friday that approximately 19.5 million people — two out of every five in Sudan — are currently experiencing crisis-level acute hunger or worse nationwide. Sudan is also facing a severe nutrition crisis, with an estimated 825,000 children under five suffering from severe acute malnutrition.

Persistent heavy rains and severe flooding have hit several countries in the Sahel, affecting millions of people and displacing hundreds of thousands, most recently in northeastern Nigeria. The extreme weather has also exacerbated existing humanitarian crises in Chad, Cameroon, Mali and Niger. Aid agencies are urgently calling for increased international support to reach the most vulnerable.

The humanitarian crisis in Yemen is spiraling out of control, with a staggering number of people facing hunger, including extreme conditions, and the United Nations’ ability to deliver aid severely hampered by ongoing conflict, funding shortages, and arbitrary detentions. This was the stark warning delivered on Monday by UN relief chief Tom Fletcher during a briefing to the UN Security Council.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that drought continues to impact millions of people across Somalia.  Somali authorities estimate that more than 4.6 million people, or around a quarter of the population in Somalia, are being affected by the ongoing drought, with more than 104,000 people displaced in November alone due to the extreme dry conditions.

The international humanitarian organization Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) on Friday expressed grave concern about the intensifying crisis in Mozambique, which has compounded an already dire humanitarian situation. In a statement, NRC said it has had to suspend much of its relief operations as movement in the field remains too dangerous.

Despite signs of political progress, Haiti remains gripped by insecurity, with international support seen as critical to enabling long-delayed elections, the United Nations Security Council was told Thursday. As the Gang Suppression Force (GSF) begins its phased deployment and the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission prepares to leave at the end of April, officials warned that whether recent gains can hold depends on how security conditions evolve.

Interim authorities in Ethiopia's war-torn Tigray region are warning of a looming famine due to drought and the enduring effects of the devastating two-year war in the north of the country. In a statement Friday, Getachew Reda, leader of the interim regional authority in Tigray, said more than 91 percent of the population was "at risk of starvation and death" and called on the Ethiopian Federal Government and the international community to help.

With the Horn of Africa facing the combined impacts of a historic drought, conflict and economic shocks, donors at a United Nations-backed pledging event today announced US$2.4 billion to provide life-saving and life-sustaining assistance for nearly 32 million people across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia facing hunger. However, the humanitarian community requires $7 billion for humanitarian aid and protection for drought- and conflict-affected people this year.

A United Nations-backed food security report concluded Thursday that more than a year of war in Sudan has pushed parts of North Darfur into famine, including a displaced persons camp that houses more than half a million people. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) is urgently calling on all warring parties to allow humanitarian food assistance by freeing up key access points within the country and at its borders.